For the first time in its history, Graeter's is airing television ads nationally – hoping to build a broader audience for ice cream that's been a regional favorite for generations.

The Cincinnati super-premium ice cream brand is airing two new commercials 27 times a week for the next 16 weeks as the weather heats up and consumers look to cool off. Graeter's is airing the spots on the Cooking Channel and the Food Network, targeting hard-core foodies.

Now that Graeter's is in more than 6,000 supermarkets nationwide, chief executive Richard Graeter said it was time for the brand to get its message out.

Graeter appears in the commercial and reads the voice-over in the first spot. "We never seriously considered national ads because it's so expensive, but now you can find the brand from California to Chicago," Graeter said.

The company selected Mariemont marketing firm Elam & Associates to conceive the ad and oversee its production. The firm recently had redesigned Graeter's website and some product packaging.

President Eric Elam said the ad's simple message emphasizes Graeter's tradition, meant to resonate with culinary aficionados of the two cable networks. By targeting the ads on the Food Network and Cooking Channel, Elam was sure to reach an audience interested in high-end food products representing quality and prestige, a step up over lower-priced grocery brands.

Shot at its newest store in Over-the-Rhine two weeks ago, Graeter's 30-second spot stresses the ice cream has been made the same way for 144 years. The secret, the ad notes, is that ingredients are slowly frozen and spun together in 2½-gallon batches in French pot freezers, creating a smoother and much denser product.

"French pots are a single point of differentiation – nobody makes ice cream the way they make it," Elam said. By contrast, cheaper brands contain more air.

The commercial also features a range of customers enjoying Graeter's ice cream: An older couple, a young family, two schoolgirls laughing with each other. The message: Everyone can find something to like about this ice cream.

"With each new generation, things change: fashion, technology, everything. ... Everything, that is, except Graeter's," says the voice-over. "Graeter's is still made the same way my great-grandparents made it: by hand, in French pots, one very small batch at a time."

Graeter hopes the spots boost company sales by 250,000 pints. Graeter's spent $40,000 to produce the ads that used all local actors and creative talent. The company is spending another $250,000 to air the ads on cable TV.

A second, 15-second ad is being edited and scheduled to start running on the cable networks in July. Elam says its approach is even more pared down: It depicts a woman's delighted expression after tasting Graeter's ice cream for the first time.

Elam said the second ad is meant to complement the commercial running now.

"It's show and tell," Elam said. "The first ad is about the rational reasons for purchasing Graeter's; the second spot is all about the emotional reasons." ■

ABOUT ELAM & ASSOCIATES

Services: Brand strategy, website and packaging design, advertising

Based: Mariemont

Founded: 2009

Employees: Eric Elam is a sole practitioner who subcontracts technical work to outside vendors

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About Elam & Associates

Services: Brand strategy, website and packaging design, advertising

Based: Mariemont

Founded: 2009

Employees: Eric Elam is a sole practitioner who subcontracts technical work to outside vendors